BATTLESTAR OLYMPIA

EPISODE 4: THE HOMEWORLD

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Battlestar Galactica in any way, shape or form.

"It is not known where the Cylon homeworld is, or if one exists. It is speculated that it is located several lightyears from the Twelve Colonies, or that the Cylons colonized Kobol. No one knows for sure, and a human would likely not want to find themselves on a Cylon-inhabited world."

-A History of the Twelve Colonies, Chapter 5, Page 31.

As the Olympia and the fleet make their way towards Ragnar, Hermes goes to visit the woman he saved on Picon. But, as he soon finds out, this woman has a secret that could literally destroy the ship: She is a Cylon. At the same time, a freighter who had just joined the fleet begins launching Cylon Raiders. On the ship, the Cylon woman is on a rampage….

She had a purpose. A single reason for her being. And that was to get to the center of the human ship, this so called "Battlestar". So far, it had been extremely easy. It seemed that after 40 years, these humans just didn't learn. But of course, she had to be on the defensive, because even though the humans were inferior in intellect, they had their moments of brilliance, no matter how infrequently they happened. As she dealt a devastating right hook to a so called "security officer", she couldn't help but think about what Aaron Doral had said to her back on Picon-"Don't underestimate the humans. They are most dangerous when they are fighting to survive." She wanted to laugh. Doral never was much of a fighter. He preferred to use words and mind games, but if there was one thing that she, Cylon Number Six knew, the only way to deal with the humans was with force.

Captain Thomas Vier had always loved the rush of adrenaline. From his days on Caprica, to his days at the Fleet Academy, to his tour of duty on the Olympia, he loved that rush. But there was such a idea as having too much of a good thing. Nowhere was that true than now, as he piloted his Viper, trying to pick off the toasters, and trying not to get picked off. He weaved and bobbed through Vipers and Raiders alike, then once he got a Raider in his sights, he'd pull the trigger and the Raider would go up in a huge explosion, so bright that it hurt Vier's eyes. As he destroyed another Raider, he turned towards the Thebes, checking if any more Raiders were being launched, then received a nasty shock to see a huge ship slowly lower out of the cargo bay of the Thebes. He slowly realized what it was-a Cylon Heavy Raider. He looked again. Yes, it definitely was a Heavy Raider, which could only be a bad thing. Before Vier could get on his radio and warn the other pilots, the Heavy Raider began launching a hail of missiles, and Vier quickly spun his Viper around and took off back towards the battle. Yes, he thought, he didn't like this adrenaline rush.

Commander James Hermes had faced a lot of dicey situations in his 40-plus years in the fleet, but this had to be the worst situation that he'd ever been in. Not only was there a Cylon aboard, killing his men and making her-or its way towards the CIC to do gods-know-what kind of damage to the ship, but there were Cylon Raiders out in space, killing his pilots and trying to make their way towards the ship and the fleet to do damage. Not exactly a win-win scenario. Vier's voice came in over the intercom. "Archer to Olympia actual!" Hermes grabbed a headset and put it on. "Olympia actual here!" "Reporting one Cylon Heavy Raider launching missiles!" An alarm sounded and Colonel Argus turned and looked at a panel on a nearby console. "Sir! Radiological alert! Those missiles are nukes, sir!" Argus shouted as he turned to face Hermes. Hermes nearly swore out loud, then got a hold of himself. "Where are they headed?!" Argus looked at the DRADIS screen. "Sir, three inbound towards this ship, seven towards our support ships. CAG reports that the Vipers are unable to intercept missiles." Hermes grimaced, then switched his headset to the ship's P.A. system. "This is the Commander. All hands, prepare for nuclear impact. I repeat, all hands brace for nuclear impact."

Seconds later, three missiles struck the Olympia. One struck its port landing pod, one struck the front end of the ship, and one struck right in the middle of the ship. There was a bright flash. Aboard the ship, people were knocked over, lights went out, crew members who were near the impact points who survived the explosion were sucked out into space through the gaping holes in the middle, side and front of the ship.

As Number Six approached the door leading to the control center of the Battlestar, she heard a loud explosion and the entire ship seemed to shudder violently with the impact. Good. At least the Heavy Raiders made a distraction. As soon as the shaking died down, she walked up to the heavy blast door, and opened it, only to be greeted by a hail of bullets from some security guards. She was knocked off her feet with the impact. As she lay on the ground, she saw blood seeping along the floor. No matter. She had to complete her mission. She slowly got to her feet, only to be knocked down by more gunfire by the advancing guards. She looked to her right and saw her target, a console just feet from her. She turned and crawled towards the console. She grabbed hold of the top of the console, and entered in coordinates. She found a key on the side of the console, took it and put it into a slot in the middle of the console, then pressed a button on the console. She then smashed the console with her fist, so the humans couldn't interfere with her handiwork. She could hear yells of, "She's doing something with the FTL drive!", and "Stop her!", but she didn't care anymore. She had completed her mission. Number Six the Cylon slid down off of the console and lay there. She was beginning to succumb to the radiation poisoning and her wounds. She'd be in another body soon, safely on a Basestar. The humans would not be so lucky….

Colonel Argus looked up at the DRADIS screen. On the screen read: FTL JUMP COUNTDOWN: 00:30. "Damn! She's sending the ship on a jump, and there's nothing we can do about it..," he said ruefully. Hermes looked at Petty Officer Rusel. "Lila, can you find the coordinates?" Rusel ran over to the smashed FTL console. "No sir! She, or it smashed the entire console. We're making a blind jump!" The clock counted down….

Ten….

Commander Hermes thought of his family back on the Colonies..or what was the colonies….

Nine….

Captain Vier listened to the radio chatter, and realized that he, 60 other Vipers and several ships were going to be left in space…

Eight…..

Number Six smiled up at the ceiling. God's will was being done.

Seven…

Rusel looked up at the console, silently praying that they wouldn't jump into a sun.

Six…

Colonel Argus shook his head. The Cylons had won, he thought.

Five…

Security Officer Thomas Strath looked around at his comrades. It might be the last time he ever saw them again.

Four….

Three….

Two….

One…

The Olympia jumped away in a flash of light. The remaining Vipers and ships were now alone in space, under attack by Cylon Raiders. Vier snapped back to the battle at hand. He destroyed the last few Raiders left, and then destroyed the fleeing Heavy Raider with a couple of missiles. He then swung his Viper around to face the Thebes. "Colonial Heavy 348! Surrender immediately, or we will destroy you!" A voice came in over the radio. "Archer. I will surrender, but I should let you know that your only chance of finding the Olympia lies with me." Vier froze in shock for a second. How did this person know his call sign? "Who are you?!" Vier demanded. There was no response for a second. "My name is Captain Leoben Conoy, and I'll lead you to the Olympia, if you'll let me. Obviously, I'm a Cylon,"-"WHAT?!" Vier screamed. Now he knew this man was lying-the Olympia was destroyed, and if he followed this Conoy man, or Cylon, or whatever, he'd be leading the remainder of the fleet to destruction also. He began to ready his missiles and weapons-"so the choice is up to you. Either you can trust me-or destroy me. If you destroy me, My consciousness will be transferred to another body, I'll tell the others where you are and you'll be easy pickings for a Basestar. If you follow me, I promise you that you'll survive." Vier scoffed. "And why should we follow you, toaster?" Leoben laughed over the radio. "Because it's God's will, and it's the only way you'll survive."

The Olympia emerged from the jump. Hermes looked up. They hadn't jumped into a sun, or a black hole…but where were they? The entire deck erupted into cheers, but became quickly muted, as if the crew was thinking the same thing. His question was answered by a voice yelling over the ship radio. "COMMANDER! THIS IS THE VIEWING DECK OFFICER. I DON'T BELIEVE IT-WE'RE OVER A PLANET!" Hermes went rigid with shock. He couldn't believe it. He picked up the headset. "What planet?! Could it be one of the Colonies?" he said into the headset. "No sir! It's nothing like I've ever seen before! It's all lit up…like one huge city!" Hermes shook his head. "I'm coming down there." He took off the headset and put it down. He began to walk out of the CIC with Colonel Argus, when he heard a wheezing noise. He turned to see the Cylon looking at him, with a smile on her face. She looked like she was using up the last of her strength. "Styx…..," the Cylon said, "Styx….." she then slumped over and her eyes closed. Hermes stood there. What did Styx mean? "Security. Get a team up her to take the Cylon to the airlock," Hermes said, then turned and left the CIC.

As Hermes walked into the viewing deck, he saw dozens of people standing, looking at the planet. It was the most amazing thing Hermes had ever seen. The entire planet surface was covered with webs of light. It did look like an enormous city. This didn't look like any of the Colonies at all. He heard several people begin screaming. He looked up, and saw at least 20 Basestars begin to approach the ship…maybe this was the end…a gruff voice began speaking on the ship's P.A. system…an oddly familiar voice "Ah…the Colonial Battlestar Olympia. I must say, when you took out our Basestar aboard Picon, I was pleasantly surprised. Obviously you humans are slightly more intelligent than I thought you were." Hermes walked over to the nearest phone and picked it up. He dialed in the code for the CIC. "CIC. Rusel here," came the answer. "This is Commander Hermes. Patch me in to the radio." "Yes sir," was Rusel's reply. "To the commander of this ship: I'd recommend that you surrender. I'm sure you don't want to die, and I don't want you to die." "I see we are outgunned. I will surrender on one condition, Cylon: Tell me who you are, where we are, and what you plan to do with us," Hermes snapped. The voice laughed. "Well…we want to observe you…we haven't seen you in 40 years...and who am I? Well….I suppose I can say that…I remember you from a long time ago…" "Just tell me!" spat Hermes. "I am Cylon Grand Admiral Saul Tigh, commander of the Arrow of God, the Cylon Fleet, and I'd like to personally welcome you to Styx, the homeworld of the Cylons."

TO BE CONTINUED…..